


If I Were

by spinner_atropos



Series: Short But Pointless, X-Files Edition [3]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: 05x04 "Detour", Gen, Missing Scene, UST, woobie Mulder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 23:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5435357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinner_atropos/pseuds/spinner_atropos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I decide that as terrible as I feel, woozy and queasy and with my shoulder hurting like a sumbitch, I'm pretty content to be held in Dana Scully's lap while she runs her fingers through my hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Were

**Author's Note:**

> Because I bet nobody in the history of phandom has written a missing scene fic for this.

I drift back out of a fitful sleep, and Scully is humming a tune I don't recognize. Sounds like a hymn of some kind. Her fingers are gently stroking my hair and I decide that as terrible as I feel, woozy and queasy and with my shoulder hurting like a sumbitch, I'm pretty content to be held in Dana Scully's lap while she runs her fingers through my hair. Even if I do feel like a Labrador retriever who doesn't realize he's gotten too big to be in laps anymore.

She starts up with "Joy to the World" again, very quietly. I'd be amused that she's humoring me but I know she's either seriously worried about me or more scared than she wants to admit. "If I were the king of the world... tell you what I'd do... I'd--something-something cars... and wars and... wars... and--" She cuts off abruptly.

"What would you do, Scully?"

"I thought you were asleep." She presses her fingertips to my neck, feeling my pulse.

"I was. Now I'm not. What would you do, Scully?"

"What?"

"After the cars and the wars."

"I don't remember." Her eyes slide away from me. Liar. "I never claimed to know _all_ the words." She starts absently stroking my hair again.

"You're shivering."

"I'm chilly."

"My offer still stands."

She smiles a little. "Without a sleeping bag, removing your clothes would be tantamount to suicide."

"I'm hoping to avoid dying. Though I'd rather die that way than from shock."

She smiles a little more. "You're not going to die of shock. Your pulse is stronger and you don't feel as clammy." She lays her palms on my cheeks.

"Promise?"

"I will do everything in my power to keep you from dying."

"Including mouth-to-mouth?"

"I can tell the difference between respiratory arrest and holding your breath, Mulder." She pats one cheek and returns that hand to my hair.

I think about letting myself fall sleep again, but I'd rather talk to Scully. "What time do you think it is?"

She looks up through the trees. "Maybe three hours to dawn?"

"Are you really going to be able to stay awake?"

She shrugs a little. "I made it through my residency, I can go a single night without sleep."


End file.
